Delay of cortical thinning in very preterm born children

Mürner-Lavanchy, Ines; Steinlin, Maja; Nelle, Mathias; Rummel, Christian; Perrig, Walter J.; Schroth, Gerhard; Everts, Regula (2014). Delay of cortical thinning in very preterm born children. Early human development, 90(9), pp. 443-450. Elsevier 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.05.013

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BACKGROUND:
Cortical gray matter thinning occurs during childhood due to pruning of inefficient synaptic connections and an increase in myelination. Preterms show alterations in brain structure, with prolonged maturation of the frontal lobes, smaller cortical volumes and reduced white matter volume. These findings give rise to the question if there is a differential influence of age on cortical thinning in preterms compared to controls.

AIMS:
To investigate the relationship between age and cortical thinning in school-aged preterms compared to controls.

STUDY DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES:
The automated surface reconstruction software FreeSurfer was applied to obtain measurements of cortical thickness based on T1-weighted MRI images.

SUBJECTS:
Forty-one preterms (<32weeks gestational age and/or <1500g birth weight) and 30 controls were included in the study (7-12years).

RESULTS:
In preterms, age correlated negatively with cortical thickness in right frontal, parietal and inferior temporal regions. Furthermore, young preterms showed a thicker cortex compared to old preterms in bilateral frontal, parietal and temporal regions. In controls, age was not associated with cortical thickness.

CONCLUSION:
In preterms, cortical thinning still seems to occur between the age of 7 and 12years, mainly in frontal and parietal areas whereas in controls, a substantial part of cortical thinning appears to be completed before they reach the age of 7years. These data indicate slower cortical thinning in preterms than in controls.

Item Type:

 Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

 04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine (DRNN) > Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology
07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Psychological and Behavioral Health
10 Strategic Research Centers > Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory (CCLM)

UniBE Contributor:

 Mürner-Lavanchy, Ines Mirjam, Steinlin, Maja, Nelle, Mathias, Rummel, Christian, Perrig, Walter, Schroth, Gerhard, Everts, Regula

Subjects:

 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology

ISSN:

 0378-3782

Publisher:

 Elsevier

Language:

 English

Submitter:

 Anette van Dorland

Date Deposited:

 10 Sep 2014 11:10

Last Modified:

 02 Mar 2023 23:25

Publisher DOI:

 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.05.013

PubMed ID:

 24976634

Uncontrolled Keywords:

 Children, Cortical thickness, Delay, Development, Very low birth weight, Very preterm

BORIS DOI:

 10.7892/boris.58205

URI:

 https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/58205

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